Friday, December 31, 2010
Too Many Tamales
Although you probably won't believe it, I am 1/4 Mexican. Every year my entire family comes together to make dozens of tamales. The process takes an entire day. It is a tradition that has occurred since my mom and aunts and uncle were little kids. Thankfully they have chosen to keep the tradition alive, teaching us the "secret" family tamale recipe!
As little kids, we would gather around and read the story "Too Many Tamales" before helping our parents make them (although we probably got in the way more than we helped). Now that all of us cousins are older, we can truly enjoy the experience and begin learning the recipe so that we too can continue the tradition with our own children one day. With that said, I obviously can't release the secret to you all...so pictures will have to do for this post.
We had plenty of snacks to keep up full and energized while cooking all day!
We quickly got to work. First, take the seeds out of the pasilla (which are used to spice the pork meat). Also boil the tomatillos (which are used to spice the chicken meat).
My Aunt Sandy is the queen of tamale making, and holds the family's secret recipe. She got right to work making the masa and also giving the rest of us important jobs!
My cousin Kara and I worked on drying the corn husks after they soaked so they could be filled with the masa and meet. Here we are with my beautiful Grandmother!
We each took turns kneading the dough.
Once the meat was done, it was time to get serious and start stuffing...
We had some of us spreading the masa onto the corn husks and some of us filling them with the meat. This is definitely a team effort! Here's my team :)
The original team: The Campos Girls.
After filling the tamales, you seal them and place them in a large pot to simmer over the stove for about 45 minutes.
Once again, we all had a great time together making our favorite holiday recipe. And while you may not understand why we make these "things" since many people do not like them, we could not have Christmas without them! Its an acquired taste that is in our blood, and always will be :)
As little kids, we would gather around and read the story "Too Many Tamales" before helping our parents make them (although we probably got in the way more than we helped). Now that all of us cousins are older, we can truly enjoy the experience and begin learning the recipe so that we too can continue the tradition with our own children one day. With that said, I obviously can't release the secret to you all...so pictures will have to do for this post.
We had plenty of snacks to keep up full and energized while cooking all day!
We quickly got to work. First, take the seeds out of the pasilla (which are used to spice the pork meat). Also boil the tomatillos (which are used to spice the chicken meat).
My Aunt Sandy is the queen of tamale making, and holds the family's secret recipe. She got right to work making the masa and also giving the rest of us important jobs!
My cousin Kara and I worked on drying the corn husks after they soaked so they could be filled with the masa and meet. Here we are with my beautiful Grandmother!
We each took turns kneading the dough.
Once the meat was done, it was time to get serious and start stuffing...
We had some of us spreading the masa onto the corn husks and some of us filling them with the meat. This is definitely a team effort! Here's my team :)
The original team: The Campos Girls.
After filling the tamales, you seal them and place them in a large pot to simmer over the stove for about 45 minutes.
Once again, we all had a great time together making our favorite holiday recipe. And while you may not understand why we make these "things" since many people do not like them, we could not have Christmas without them! Its an acquired taste that is in our blood, and always will be :)
2 comments:
So nice to have a great tradition like that. Where are all the men? They should have their own thing to do while the women are having fun in the kitchen! Cheryl
Please post recipe!! I want to make them too. and everything else you make is so delicious! It's not fair I love tamales, please don't hold out!
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